By Bruce McPherson, Supervisor, Fifth District
Following a robust discussion about the financial challenges facing the County, the Board of Supervisors on June 4 approved the fiscal year 2024-2025 budget of $1.15 billion, which is primarily comprised of a $780 million General Fund that pays for core services such as public safety, parks, and infrastructure programs, including road repairs.
Bruce McPherson
Considering the roughly $125 million we believe the County is due in federal reimbursements related to disaster spending for the CZU Fire, COVID and severe storms, the Board earlier approved borrowing up to $85 million to help plug the gap. The loans are designed to prevent job losses and diluting reserves to dangerous levels.
Despite our challenges, which are the greatest I have seen in my nearly 12 years on the Board, the Board remained optimistic that we will eventually realize additional funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as tap into the Measure K sales tax increase approved by voters in March 2024. Any additional funding from federal, state and local sources will reduce the County’s need to borrow while increasing our ability to make new investments in roads, homelessness, housing and parks.
The revenue generated by Measure K is anticipated to provide $10 million annually but was put on hold this spring amid a lawsuit challenging its validity. We hope the legal action will be resolved quickly so that our County can address prioritized needs that go unmet each year due in part to our very low property tax return rate from the state.
One of the most debated aspects of our spending this year was on the 600 miles of roadway managed by the County. Since FY 2017-2018, the County has spent $349 million on road repairs and maintenance, largely driven by a series of storms dating back to late 2016 and including damage from the 2023 atmospheric rivers.
We anticipate spending another nearly $83 million in the coming fiscal year, including additional storm repairs, as well as standard road resurfacing and other maintenance, bridge projects, and other improvements. We have dedicated $1 million for roads from Measure K when we are able to use it.
All of this comes as the County still has more than 80 road repair projects without dedicated funding.
It is no easy feat to find more money, especially for challenging sites like the break in Mountain Charlie Road that occurred in February. My office and the County Office of Response, Recovery and Resilience have been working with state and federal offices, to identify mechanisms to repair the road and restore access for residents.
Transportation, overall, is always a hot topic in District 5. And there is some good news to share. Caltrans will begin construction of a safe pedestrian and bicycle path from downtown Felton to the San Lorenzo Valley Unified combined school campus in the spring of 2025 for completion in the summer of 2027.
The Highway 9 project will install four- to six-foot-wide sidewalks, add curbs and gutters on the southbound side, and perform shoulder widening to a minimum of four feet. The bus stop in front of the school campus will also get a significant overhaul that will increase safety and traffic flow.
The Felton Pedestrian Safety Project is one of the first major projects to be implemented from the Highway 9 Complete Streets Plan developed a few years ago with Caltrans and the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC).
On a related note, the RTC is seeking community input through an online survey of its Climate Adaptation Vulnerability Assessment and Priorities Report project. The RTC and County are partnering on the project that will identify transportation infrastructure assets — such as roads, bridges, and trails — that may be vulnerable to climate hazards and prioritize them for further analysis and adaptation measures.
As we know, Santa Cruz County is increasingly experiencing extreme weather events, and we need to plan for the impacts of climate change on transportation to minimize impacts. Public input on the CAVA will be used to develop the Draft Project Framework and the methodology for prioritizing future adaptation projects on County maintained transportation infrastructure and the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line.
The survey can be accessed at www.sccrtc.org/funding-planning/environmental-planning/cava/.
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Bruce McPherson is Santa Cruz County supervisor in the 5th District. Email him at [email protected]